Rail-joint for railways



Patented May 5,1891.

(No Model.)

, V. A. TYLER. I RAIL JOINT FOR RAILWAYS. No. 461,646.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VERNON A. TYLER, or MoRRIs PARK, NEW YORK.

RAIL-JOINT FOR RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,646, dated May 5, 1891.

Application filed February 10, 1891. Serial No. 380,892. (No model.)

T0 at whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, VERNON A. TYLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Morris Park, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Rail-Joints for Railways, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a compound jointchair and clamping bars, whereby the adjacent ends of the rails are clamped in all directions to prevent any motion of the respective parts under the action of the passing weight. Thereby the hammering and battering action usual in railway-tracks is avoided, because the surfaces of the rails are maintained in line with each other and one rail cannot spring downwardly under the weight, leaving the other end elevated for the wheel to strike against.

Before my invention two-part rail-chairs had been made to grasp the flanges of the track-rails, and a wedge had been driven transversely across beneath the ends of the rails; but such Wedge was liable to become loose and inefficient.

In my present invention the wedges are confined in such a manner that they cannot become displaced by the jar or strain to which they are subjected, and the rails are bolted together through the vertical body portions, and the two parts of the joint-chair become also fish-plates.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a cross-section at the line as a: of Fig. 2; and Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly broken open, to represent the wedges.

- The rails A are of ordinary size and of the desired cross-sectional shape. The chair is made of the two parts 13 B, the portions 2 of the chair setting closely against the under sides of the head at the body 3 of the rail and forming fish-plates, and the chairs extend downwardly and over the bottom flanges 4 of the rails A, and there are inwardly-projecting flanges 5 upon the bottom edges of the chairs B B, and there are bolts 0, passing through the fish-plate portions 2 of the chairs B B and through the body 3 of the rails, and these bolts may be provided with lock-nuts of any desired character, as usual, and there are bolts D, passing across beneath the flanges 4 of the rails and through the lower portions of the chairs B B, which bolts may also be provided with lock-nuts. The wedges E E are of a length to pass in freely between the bolts D, and they come above the flanges 5 of the chairs B B, the lower surface of the bottom wedge resting on such flanges and the upper surface of the upper wedge bearing against the under surfaces of the rails A. These wedges E E are about the same width as the tread of the rails, and they are thinner upon one edge than upon the other and occupy the reverse positions, as shown, so that when the bolts D are set up these wedges E E are forced together and press against the flanges 5 and the under surface of the rails, so that the flanges 4 of the rails are firmly bound and held between the respective parts of the chair B B and the wedges. It will now be apparent that after the parts are set loosely together the bolts 0 should be first tightened to grasp the body of the rails with firmness, the fish-plate portions 2 of the chair firmly grasping the rails between the heads and flanges, and then the bolts D are tightened and the flanges of the rails are gripped in the most firm and reliable manner by the action of the wedges E E, and these wedges cannot escape or become misplaced, because they are confined between the bolts D at their ends and by the flanges 5 of the chairs.

It is generally preferable to apply this railjoint between two cross-ties, and should there be any spring in the rails themselves the joint-chairs will move with the rails and retain the ends of the rails accurately in line with each other, so as to effectually prevent any concussion or hammering action upon the corners of the rail at the joint. Should the parts become loose from the trains passing over the same, they can be reliably and firmly tightened by setting up the bolts or by hammering upon the lower portions of the chair to set up the wedges E E, and then tightening the bolts.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with the chairs B B, having the fish-plate portions 2 between the head and the flanges of the rails andthe flanges 5 below the flanges of the rails, of the wedges E E, resting upon the flanges 5 and below the treads of the rails, the bolts D, passing through the lower portions of the chairs and confinrails within the chairs when the bolts are set 10 up, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 5th clay of February, A.

ing the wedges in position, and the bolts C, passing through the fish-plate portions of the chairs, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the rails, of chairs D. 1891. B B passin above and below the flanges of r 1 T T r 1 s the rails, bol ts D, passing through the chairs ILRBOL IYLER' and below the rails, and wedges E E between \Vitnesses:

HAROLD SERRELL, WILLIAM G. Mo'r'r.

the bolts and above the bottom flanges of the I chairs and acting to confine the flanges of the 

